Defying Destiny
by yogurt-souffle
Summary: After the death of her best friend, Lucy Heartfilia makes a desperate attempt to alter history, and Izumi Akiyama finds herself thrust into the universe of Fairy Tail, and shouldering a burden that was never meant to be hers. Defying Destiny is a 2-part Fairy Tail SI OC fanfiction following the story of Izumi Akiyama, a 15-year-old girl who discovers the role she was meant to play.
1. Prologue

If I had a life before all the light, I don't remember any of it. If everything after the light was real, I don't remember much of that, either. In fact, I was too young to remember much prior to the disappearance of Team Tenrou, and what I did remember was the following.

I must have only been about one or two then, but that one moment is engraved into my memory, permanently branded there as if someone took a hot iron bar and seared it into my consciousness. It started when I was swallowed whole by the golden light, my senses engulfed in brightness. I couldn't see, but I was guided slowly through the golden currents by a gentle tugging sensation. I didn't know why, but I felt strangely comforted, happy, even.

Then came the darkness. Suddenly, a small patch of blackness pierced through my golden euphoria, shattering my brief sense of peacefulness. The darkness quickly spread, like tendrils of ink reaching out in all directions. Within seconds, the last speck of light disappeared, and I was alone the sea of darkness and uncertainty. I felt a sharp jerk at my back, I began falling, falling through a black chasm of nothingness. A desperate voice accompanied me as I descended. It whispered, Make it right. Change what I couldn't. I ignored it and my fall continued. It took forever, and I must have fallen asleep, because when I could see again, I was in a different place.

Where I most definitely did not belong.

Or maybe I did, but there were so many unfamiliar voices. Something felt off, and I still can't place my finger on what. I was just an infant then, but even they can tell when something was wrong.

In time, the voices became familiar to me. Eventually, I stopped thinking about July 7th, X777, and everything felt normal.

Normal, save for a small voice that still whispered,

Make it right.


	2. Grand Magic Games Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to any part of _Fairy Tail_ ; Sting in all his awesomeness belongs to Hiro Mashima.

 **Applicable Warnings:** 1) Canon will be blown up eventually. 2) Possible Sting x OC bits

* * *

Chapter 1 | Training

"Grab it!"

"How?"

I ducked, narrowly avoiding Sting's White Dragon's Roar. The concentrated magic beam sailed over my head and into the brick wall behind me, which crumbled under the impact, reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble. From the sidelines, Rufus told me to counterattack with my telekinesis, so I did, concentrating and picking up a brick from the debris. I launched it at Sting, who stopped it easily with one hand. He let it drop to the sand at his feet, where it landed with a muffled thud.

"Try again, Izumi. This time, grab the magic, rather than just avoiding it," Rufus said with a small sigh. He was pacing the edges of the training sands, his usual, calm demeanor replaced by one of slight exasperation. I couldn't blame him. It had been more than an hour, and I was hardly making any progress.

Sting casually shot a thin beam of light off of his fingertips. It sped towards me, and right before it would have hit my chest, I stopped it, the beam frozen in midair. With my magic, I turned the beam around so that the point faced Sting instead, my control wavering precariously as I did. In the corner of my vision, I saw Rufus nod, with what I assumed to be approval.

"Good. Hold it there, for as long as possible," Rufus instructed, stopping his pacing. "I'll time you."

 _I won't last long_. I thought, as I felt a bead of sweat trickling down my back. Simply taking control the beam had taken a good chunk of my already depleted magic power, but I gritted my teeth and tried to hold the magic in place. Before long, I could feel my grip slipping, my control of the light loosening as my magic was steadily sapped away. I let go of the beam, staggering backwards and nearly falling. The ray shot towards Sting and hit the wall behind him, leaving a small, smoking crater on the bricks.

"Are you okay, Izumi?" Sting asked, running a hand through his blonde hair. The action fixated me, but then again, every action performed by Sting Eucliffe had a similar effect.

"Yeah," I mumbled. I felt slightly dizzy, so I sat down heavily in the sand. "How long did I last?"

"A minute or so," Sting answered. "It's an improvement from last time, but you aren't making enough progress. Master won't be happy with either of us."

Master Jiemma was the strict, almost tyrannical leader of Sabertooth, the guild to which Sting, Rufus, and I belong. What Sting said was true - Jiemma would not be satisfied with my performance, or Sting's, for that matter. As my temporary teacher, he was responsible for my progress, or lack thereof.

"Do you think you will be ready for the Games in three months?" Rufus asked me, tossing his long hair over one shoulder. "To be honest, you don't really look the part."

"I'll try," I replied dully. "What about Yukino-san? She should just go in my place. I'll be the substitute instead."

"No, she's been in the guild for less than a year. Master won't allow her. He didn't even allow you until this year, Izumi." Rufus sighed. "And in all honesty, you're stronger."

"Okay."

 _Would I really be ready...?_ The Grand Magic Games was a broadcasted magic tournament held in Crocus every summer, for all the mage guilds in Fiore. Sabertooth had come in first place, every year, for the past four years. This year, as Minerva Orland, the ace of Sabertooth, was unable to participate due to her long-term absence on an S-Class mission, I was to take her place in the Games. But Rufus was right - I wasn't ready. While I wasn't weak, I couldn't hold a candle to the prowess of my fellow Sabertooth members. In preparation for the Games, Master Jiemma ordered Sting to oversee my training sessions, but so far, I was failing miserably.

A shout interrupted me from my thoughts. I looked up to see Sting's Exceed companion, Lector, flying towards us, waving his short arms in excitement.

"Sting-kun! Rufus-kun! Izumi-san!" the small red cat stopped in front of Sting. "STING-KUN! I have news, and I think that you'd like you hear it."

"Oh?" Sting tilted his head, and squatted down in the sand next to Lector. "What is it?"

"The Grand Magic Games," Lector replied, out of breath. "This year... Fairy Tail is participating!"

Fairy Tail... my old guild.

"If I recall correctly," Rufus mused, "They participate every year."

Sting snorted. "And every year, they come in last place."

Lector shook his head and made an exaggerated gesture with his paws. "No, this time, Fairy Tail's elite members, the ones that were trapped in time for seven years, are back! Natsu-san will be participating!"

Even from a distance, I could see Sting's eyes light up at the prospect of being able to compete against his childhood idol, the Fire Dragon Slayer he had always admired from afar - Natsu Dragneel. For me - my old guild mate.

"Now isn't that interesting," Rufus chuckled slightly. "This year will be particularly exciting. When the time comes, I'll carve every moment of it into my memory."

"Then I'd better go train a bit," Sting announced, standing. He seemed rejuvenated by the news. "Wanna take a job, Lector?"

"Yeah, Sting-kun! Let's call Rogue-kun and Frosch too!"

I watched as the two of them left the training sands, and Rufus said, "Let's leave too, Izumi. That'll be it for today."

I sat on the tiger statue that decorated the top of the Sabertooth guild building, silently contemplating the idea of competing against my previous guild. While I wasn't particularly close to anyone in Fairy Tail... the idea of fighting them seemed strange, almost traitorous.

Four years ago, I had left Fairy Tail, when the jobs given to the guild were no longer able to support me. Earning money became increasingly more difficult for a small guild with but a shadow of its former glory, so I left, in pursuit of Lamia Scale, which had gained fame as Fiore's strongest after Team Tenrou's disappearance. Well, I never made it there, and joined Sabertooth instead, after meeting Rufus.

 _Speak of the devil._

Rufus had arrived soundlessly behind me, and I only noticed his presence due to his magic signature. In a few quick strides, he crossed to the tiger statue and sat down beside me, his eyes trained on the horizon, where the sun was nearly out of sight. "I thought you'd be up here... if I recall correctly, you mentioned that out of all places in and around the guild, this was your favorite."

"Correct," I said flatly.

"What's bothering you?" Rufus asked bluntly, and I turned to look at him to see that he was studying me with a curious expression. "You look like you're thinking hard."

"Nothing."

"Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah."

"That's something."

I sighed a little, sliding down from the back of the stone tiger to the statue's base, resting my head against it. "I just think that it'll probably be awkward, you know, competing against a guild that you used to belong to."

"Will it? Guilds change, people change. Chances are, most won't even recognize you anymore," Rufus titled his head. "It's been seven years since you last saw any of them, after all."

"True, I guess. But Fairy Tail... it's a guild that values loyalty. You don't just leave, join another guild, and never come back."

Rufus thought for a moment, and I may have been wrong, but I heard an almost sad tone in his voice when he said, "You could always go back. From what I recall you saying... it would definitely accept you."

"What if I don't want to? What if I've gotten, well, attached, to Sabertooth?" I asked, to myself more than to Rufus.

He laughed drily. "What is there, really, to be attached to? Not Master, I hope. The way Sabertooth is now... honestly, you'd probably be better off in Fairy Tail."

Would I? Would I really? "There isn't much left for me. After all, I haven't been in Fairy Tail for four years. And I haven't seen any of the core members for seven. Most my memories of Fairy Tail before the Tenroujima incident are a bit distorted, from being young."

"What is there here, then?"

"Well, I think... I may actually have friends here." _Like you. And Yukino. And... Sting and Rogue. Their cats._ Those words went unsaid.

Another laugh, this time with even less humor in it. A hint of bitterness. "That's not a thing, not here in Sabertooth. Good night, Izumi."

Rufus leapt off of the top of the building, and I turned my head away without a second glance. The sun was completely out of view now, and stars have begun to twinkle into existence. I perched precariously on the head of the tiger, leaning almost too far out into the open air. It didn't matter, after all - I could catch myself if I fell.


End file.
